Tangram Essentials
Welcome to Tangram Essentials, a series of practical how-to guides covering everything you need to know about arts, culture and placemaking. We understand the unique challenges and exciting opportunities within these sectors, and Tangram Essentials is designed to provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to succeed especially if you’re early in your career.
What you’ll find
Our expertly crafted guides cover a wide spectrum of essential topics, offering invaluable insights and actionable advice. From navigating funding landscapes and developing compelling programmes to mastering community engagement and implementing effective placemaking strategies, Tangram Essentials is your trusted companion.
Our approach
Each guide in the Tangram Essentials series is carefully edited by experienced members of the Tangram team, bringing their collective expertise and industry knowledge to the forefront. To enhance the depth and breadth of our content, we have used generative AI in the writing process, but every single word has been checked by a human. Our aim is to create guides that are both authoritative and accessible, providing you with well-rounded and informative resources.
Stay connected
We will continuously expand our library of resources. We encourage you to check this page regularly for new additions and updates, ensuring you always have access to the latest best practices and evolving industry trends. Sign up to our newsletter for news.
Find out more about Tangram’s services that can support you and your team here.
Qualitative research
Do you truly understand what your audience thinks, feels and values? When understanding your audience or visitors, metrics like ticket sales and visitor numbers only tell half the story. To build genuine, lasting connections and drive meaningful growth, you need to understand the why behind the numbers. This is the power of qualitative research.
Audience development
This guide provides practical, step-by-step advice to help you build a robust audience development strategy. We'll move beyond guesswork, showing you how to use insight and clear planning to forge a genuine connection with the people you want to reach. This is about building lasting relationships that ensure your organisation's relevance and resilience for years to come.
Marketing and communications strategy
In the competitive UK arts and culture sector, a brilliant programme can be lost without a voice to champion it. Many cultural professionals feel the pressure of limited budgets, small teams and the constant need to connect with audiences in meaningful ways. This guide will help you cut through the noise. We’ll walk you through the essential steps to build a robust marketing and communications strategy that not only reaches audiences but also builds lasting connection and drives organisational success.
Ethnographic research
Ever feel like you’re shouting into the void? You’ve crafted a brilliant programme, a stunning exhibition, or a thought-provoking play, but the audience engagement isn't what you hoped for. You've run the surveys and analysed the ticketing data, but you're still missing the 'why'. Why aren't people connecting? The answer often lies beyond the numbers. Sometimes it can be found in lived experiences, unspoken behaviours, and the complex context of everyday life. This is the domain of ethnographic research - a powerful tool for gaining deep, authentic human insight.